Player status (online/offline or in the battle) would be shown only for mutual friends. This allows you to hide your presence in the game from your enemies.

Many of you have become confused with this change. You must now de-friend them and then re-friend all those who you wish to interact with. You MUST friend them AND they MUST friend you for it to function correctly. You need to now contact and cross friend all those players that you choose to play with.